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Operating Budget

Major Categories of Revenue

Tuition and fees net of financial aid for undergraduate and graduate students account for 57% of total operating revenue.

Student housing and dining contribute 10% of operating revenue, while all other auxiliary
operations account for 2% of the total.

Expendable philanthropic contributions account for 5% of total revenue for operations. Gifts to
endowment and gifts for construction (i.e., not expendable for operations) are in addition to
this total.

Endowment distributions, combined with earnings on short-term investments of operating cash balances, provide 4% of the revenue budget. (The market value of NYU's total endowment at August 31, 2014 was approximately $3.5 billion, of which $793 million was for the NYU Langone Medical Center.)

The budget assumes a total return on endowment investments of 6%. Distributions
from endowment to support operations are calculated using the fiscal 2013 distribution
amount plus 1.5%, which was the increase in the New York Metro Area CPI for the
twelve months ending December 31, 2013.

Income from commercial real estate represents 2% of the revenue budget.

Sponsored research accounts for 5% of total revenue, and sponsored educational programs
account for 10% of the total.

All other sources of revenue total 3%. This category includes many relatively small items such
as service payments from the School of Medicine, annual appropriations from the State of New
York, and transfers from non-operating funds.

Major Categories of Expense

Expenditures for salaries and employee fringe benefits comprise 53% of all expenses.

Operation and maintenance of the physical plant accounts for 18% of the expense budget, divided as follows: 2% for energy, 5% for rent, 6% for debt service, and 5% for cleaning, building maintenance contracts, and all other expenses.

General operating expenses account for 17% of the budget.

Two percent of the budget is transferred to non-operating funds, primarily the capital fund for construction and information technology projects.

Professional services and fees make up 5% of the expense budget.

Sponsored research expenses make up 4% of the expense budget.

General contingency and a reserve for academic investments designated by the Provost account for 1% of the budget.

Expenditures by Purpose

Another way to view the expense budget is by purpose of expenditures.

Expenditures by schools and institutes comprise 62% of the total budget.

Facilities management and campus safety account for 14% of total expenditures, divided as follows: 5% for student housing, 1% for faculty housing, and 8% for academic buildings and general infrastructure.

The direct cost of auxiliary operations, including student housing, dining, and residential education, accounts for 4% of the total budget. When the fully allocated costs of facilities management and administrative operations are added, the expenses of auxiliary operations more closely match the revenue from auxiliary operations.

Administrative units comprise 6% of the total expense budget and include budgets for services such as development and alumni relations, human resources, finance, legal, and contingencies.

Sponsored research expenses make up 4% of the budget.

Provostial operations, including such units as the offices of the Provost, Admissions and Financial Aid, Institutional Research, Registrar, Executive Vice President for Health, and Senior Vice Provost for Research, represent 3% of total expenditures. This expense category also includes budgetary reserves for academic initiatives.

Information technology services accounts for 4% of the total, and student affairs accounts for 3%.

Undergraduate Student Charges

The combined rate of increase in undergraduate tuition and fees in the fiscal 2015 budget over the prior year is 2.9%, while the rate of increase for room and board charges for a typical arrangement of an entering freshman is 1.0%. Compared with 25 peer private non-profit institutions, NYU’s rates of increase for tuition and fees and room and board are below the group’s median and mean.

Endowment per Student

In a national study of 517 private institutions' endowments at June 30, 2013, NYU's total endowment (including the School of Medicine) was the 19th largest in total size, but 165th in endowment per student (or $77,231 per student).

Endowment Performance

The Endowment is invested with a long-term orientation. For the five years ended August 31, 2014 the Fund has delivered an annualized return of 9.1% per year, outperforming the passive 60/40 blended benchmark return of 8.2% while incurring one-third less drawdown exposure and volatility. This means that on a risk-adjusted basis the Fund has performed very well, achieving both a higher level of return while also delivering a more stable source of spending support for the University’s operating budget than the long-term passive benchmark. For further information, please visit the Investment Office webpage.